destiny calls | *. naruto fanfic

25.

  The first match was over, and the second should be beginning any minute now. However, Sasuke was still nowhere to be seen. Sighing, Akari lay her head against the back of her seat as angry shouts started sounding from the crowd. The Hokage needed to do something, or things could get unpleasant. 

    Whining softly, Riku jumped up on to the girl's lap, ears pinned against her skull. "I know," Akari murmured to the puppy, stroking her soft brown fur. "Its unnecessarily loud." Sacrificing her own ears, Akari covered the poor pup's own, hoping to at least dim the noise for her a little. 

    A ninja appeared in the battlefield next to the proctor and seemed to be explaining something before leaving again, and Akari turned her eyes to the proctor to see what would happen. "Listen everyone," He began, causing the crowd's noise to dim. "One of the competitors from the next battle has not arrived yet. So, we're going to postpone this match briefly and simply jump ahead to the battle that would've followed this one." 

    'So an Uchiha gets special treatment?' Akari shook her head in disdain, sighing. He may be the last of his clan, but that should not allow him to bend the rules in any way he pleases. 'What a joke. Had it been anyone but Sasuke, they would've been immediately disqualified.' 

"That means Sasuke is still in this." Ino said happily, hands raised in a hopeful gesture. However, Sakura simply sat there, her gaze dead. 

"Shino and Kankuro, come down." The proctor continued. Kankuro seemed to hesitate, thinking something over before calling down to the proctor. 

"Proctor! I withdraw. I withdraw, so please advance to the next match." This got the crowd upset again, and Akari covered Riku's ears back up. 'Seriously? The crowd had just calmed down!' Groaning softly, Akari glared daggers at the puppet master, whom was unaware of her piercing stares. She wasn't glaring because she thought he was a coward, or because he had ruined Shino's chance to prove himself, but simply because his withdrawal had gotten the crowd stirred up again. 

    The proctor sighed before moving on. "Due to Kankuro's withdrawal, Shino Aburame wins by default." There was a large gust of wind and Temari rode her way down to the arena on her fan, stirring up the dust that had settled from the last match. The proctor and wind ninja conversed for a mere moment before the next match was called out. 

    Out of the corner of her eye, Akari caught Naruto pushing Shikamaru off the balcony they were standing on. 'What a graceful entrance.' She thought, snickering as he crashed into the terrain below. 

"That ninja went splat!" Machi called out randomly, face red from laughter. Clapping her hands, the young girl watched the area with newfound interest. "Do it again!" 

    Once again, the crowd was jeering at what lay before them, some even going as far as to throw garbage at Shikamaru. 'All they care about is Sasuke's match,' Akari thought impatiently. 'But they got mad when there was a pause because Sasuke wasn't here! These people act like spoiled children!' Propping her head up with a hand, Akari watched Shikamaru with the same bored expression the boy himself displayed. 'I pity you Shikamaru. Having to fight to keep these idiots entertained.' 

    Before the proctor even said start, Temari charged at Shikamaru, clearly fed up with his lazy attitude. She swung her fan at him, only for Shikamaru to use kunai in order to stand on the wall. 'So he's finally getting into it.' The crowd calmed a bit once some action had happened, stopping their ridiculous tantrum like behavior. Temari swung again, but Shikamaru vanished, melting into the shade of a tree. 

"Got for it Shikamaru!" Ino suddenly jumped up, cheering her teammate on. "Use a super, awesome technique on her, and take that bitch down!" A set of footsteps approached and Akari looked over in annoyance to to see Choji standing there with a bag of chips, like always.